Out of space, back in time.

Three, two, one, and lift off. There we go, off into outer space. I did not know that I would get to this point. Being the first human ever to go on a mission to Mars. No one has made it back alive or even made it to Mars alive, so I was a bit terrified. Every astronaut and scientist that I had worked with told me some things that were absolutely bizarre. They told me about how I might hallucinate in space and how what I see might never make sense to anyone around me. I was not as concerned as they were. I thought to myself, How could just a little change of environment make me lose my mind? I laughed. Myself and the other astronauts are going up for the first time.

Yet there was something about being so far away from what created you; just exiting the earth’s atmosphere was like a shock to the inside of my heart. It was as if the blood inside me had changed directions. I do not know if the rest of the crew was feeling the same, as each of us was too excited to complain to each other. After exiting the orbit, we became this small object floating through the nothingness of space. What was the problem? Everything seemed completely normal until we got closer to Mars. The sun felt smaller, and the light became dim. The shadows of the earth covered us in this position of complete darkness. It felt as if we did not exist anymore.

So it began. I looked outside the window of my spaceship, and that is when I saw you. How is that even possible? You were supposed to be back on earth at your job, but instead you are at the window of my space shuttle. Simply staring me down, not asking me to come in or telling me to join you outside, simply staring, like a zombie. All of a sudden, my crewmates begin to look like you as well, taking steps away from me until the alert buzzer goes off. There is an asteroid headed toward us. Everything goes back to normal except your image in the window, which fades away slower.

We corrected our path and moved into a different orbit to avoid being hit by the asteroid. A few more days passed, and we got closer to Mars. Everything was going according to plan; we were going to touch base on Mars tomorrow. As I went to sleep that night, I was hoping to wake up on Mars the next day. I actually woke up back at home. I checked the date, and it was the morning of the day before I met you.